Solitude Expansion

Did you also think that Solitude was too small for a capital of Skyrim? Well no more! This mod incorporates the surrounding area into the city, aiming for an immersive and player-friendly design, turning Solitude into a true jewel of Skyrim. This mods adds over 30 new houses with custom-made interiors and over 65 new unique NPC characters with full daily routine living in them.


                                              

                                                   - video by WazaLang (SE version 2.06)

Detailed Info:

The newly enhanced city can be divided into several distinct districts, "the Old Solitude", the "Western District", the "Cliffside", the "Dock District" and the "Waterfront", and while they all seamlessly meld together, each of these areas has its unique characteristics further emphasising the size and importance of Solitude.

The Old Solitude

This is the vanilla Solitude, with its own "worldspace", accessed via load doors. I have not changed this part, allowing you to choose from the ample supply of other mods that do that if you wish. As this area is the hardest to reach, it is the most secure, yet most isolated part of the city. This limits mercantile activity to the vicinity of the main gate, making the Old Solitude a district of relative tranquillity, with the daily business of most citizens revolving around court life and the administration of the realm, both civic and military.



The Western District

This district is which most travellers will enter first, separated from the outskirts with the sawmill and Katla's farm by an imposing stone wall, patrolled day and night by the city guard, acting as the City's first line of defence. Unlike the crumbling fortifications of other Skyrim's cities, Solitude's walls are well maintained. To accommodate the needs of the travellers, there is a large inn by the main gate, providing food and shelter for the wary, while the district's warehouse serves as the primary location for unloading and storing goods and commodities brought over land. The remainder of the district is strongly residential and service oriented - serving as the explorer's guild's headquarters, and boasting the city's public bathhouse, bakery, bookshop, as well as the city bank. All these factors form a relatively well-off district, with very strong upper-middle class.

                                          

The Cliffside

This district is lies on the ragged cliffs that once separated Solitude from its sheltered bay, and with its towering staircases and terraces serves as testament to the often undervalued human architectural ability. And while the East-Empire company warehouse and part of the docks belong per-se to this district, the difficult terrain of this district again limits its value to mercantile activity as moving large quantities of goods is quite a challenge, destining this district to be the home of leisure actives of the ordinary citizens, as well a pocket of home-produced crafts, such as alchemy and tailoring. Also, the butcher has a shop in this area. These factors mean that this district is almost solely occupied by middle-class citizens.

                                   

The Dock district

The extensive docks that dominate this district are the source of Solitude's significant wealth and the beating heart of Solitude's trading activities. This district is home to numerous businesses and trading companies, who not only utilise the sea trade routes that connect the city to High Rock, Hammerfell and Morrowind, but also the northern land route to High Rock. The high numbers of travellers and residents alike also provide an ideal location for an Inn and a Brewery. To ensure smooth tax collection, this district is the home to the city's Customs office, overseeing all cargo entering the city both by the sea and by the north road. The sheer size of the trade spells a constant need for more ships, which with the ample supply of wood from the nearby sawmill mean that the docks are also a home of Skyrim's biggest ship-making industry. As this district lies on Solitude's eastern edge, it is again lined by walls, yet these are relatively small, as the traditional enemies would always march from the West, and the district is sheltered by the steep cliffs of the Solitude's arch itself. Yet as the docks remain vulnerable to an attack, and to ensure law-enforcement, the Solitude guard has strong presence in this district, with its own forge dedicated solely to the city's need, allowing Beirand to be of full service to the Imperial Legion. The massive variety of activities mean that this district is has the highest income-gap, resulting in a sharp contrast between the common sailors and labourers and the wealthy business owners and their families.

                                 

The Waterfront

While many of the countless Solitude's rulers toyed with the idea of expanding the city onto the far side of the Bay, the proximity to the marches and the lack of a suitable location for bridge construction meant that Solitude remained constrained to the Norther bank. Finally, it would be the poorest of the hold's inhabitants that have managed to permanently settle the southern bank. Whether forced out of the expensive land or never accepted to the city, the city's lowest classes have created a district in its own right, a disorganised blob of countless shacks and tents, the only thing preventing total anarchy is the common lack of any wealth by all its inhabitants. Recently, Jarl Elisif officially commissioned the city guard to patrol the district, mainly to defend the weak from the creatures of the marches who would often pray on them, but the reluctance of those with wealth to care for those whom they have no need for meant that the project of Waterfront's revitalisation saw little progress, and with the escalating war, it ceased completely.

                                 

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Additional information: 

While the work on this project is not yet finished, it is by no means a WIP, and as such is fully functional, but with more content to come in the future updates, aimed at increasing stability, immersion, interior and clutter modifications, aesthetic changes, as well as possible expansions.

I will continue to develop patches for complementing and (popular) conflicting mods, if you create your own patch for a mod that I do not include (for whatever reason), and don't mind sharing it with other people, I will gladly upload it on the mod's page crediting you as the patches author.

Translations:

French: Available here - translation by Astree 
French (alternative): Available here - translation by Sita

German: Available here - translation by znerol

Compatibility:

This mod relies on USSEP, without it it will CTD.

This mod changes only the OUTSIDE of Solitude, thus all mods that change INSIDE of Solitude should be fully compatible. For mods that change the outside, please refer to the following list;


Mods that are compatible:

Dawn of Skyrim

Hidden Hideouts City Edition 

Relics of Hyrule SE

Mods that require patch/work with minor issues:

Open Cities by Arthmoor; works but has some clipping conflicts. There is a patch available under the optional files, addressing the key problems. OC must be loaded below SE.

Solitude Exterior Addon - note that Soolitude Expansion must be lower in your load order.

Better Docks by Zebra0; works but misplaces few barrels and has a floating lamp post. Patch is available under optional files. 

Fantasy Forest Overhaul - there are numerous clipping issues in several areas - may be fixed via disable command in-game, a patch is available in the optional files.

Tamriel Reloaded - trees, texture and landscaping clipping. A patch is available under the optional files. Use the following load order: TR, SE, Patch

Better Cities SSE - Solitude - There are major clipping and Navmesh conflicts. A patch is available in the optional files.

Enhanced Lights and FX - Solitude Expansion must be loaded below this mod, otherwise you will experience NavMesh and Terrain Clipping issues

RS Children Overhaul - patch available here (by MichelleBrujah and Seoulcalibre)

The Scarlett - A Buildable Ship - Was reported compatible by a user - not tested by author so may need experimenting with load order.

Anna's NPCs SSE a patch is available here, made by Apocrypher00  

Outlaws Refuges a patch is available in the optional files. Made by ra2phoenix. Load below both SE and OR.
 
Mods that are NOT compatible:

Realistic Solitude Arch - places mountain onto a fairly large part of the docks. A patch would be possible but extensive and tbh I just don't feel like making it. Sorry!

Hole in the Wall - Solitude - might even be ok if loaded above SE, small mod overall.



I will add other compatibility information for specific mods when reported/tested.

Common Bugs & Solutions:

Low FPS: Nothing can be done about this really, I will try to optimise the mod more in the future to improve the performance.

Gulum-Ei getting stuck during the TG quest: Wait several hours on spot, if doesn't help repeat, he should eventually appear inside the warehouse. Alternatively, fast travel somewhere far enough and back.

Clipping/flickering textures: Still a problem at some places, slowly removing them. You might try to play with disable/enable commands in console, but in most of the cases it needs minor re-positioning in CK.

Getting stuck: Some locations are essentially "traps" for characters, due to a misplaced clutter or marker - best to use the tlc command.

Rock on the staircase: caused by a conflict with Open Cities - its by-passable by walking outside of the gates but highly irritating. I hope to make a fix soon.


Credits & Permissions

This mod utilises the following resources:

- Stroti's Spinning Wheel - by Stroti
- Ingredient's Wall Art - by Blary
- Lore Friendly Ships - by DeviantKaled
- Paintings and Frames - by  Artisanix
- Celtic Decor by Darkrder 

-for other credits and permissions, please see the appropriate tabs :)

Notes:
If you have any comments, suggestions or knowledge of any bugs please comment so that we can work accordingly. 

I am looking for more people to join me on the project. If you are interested, feel free to pm me :)


If anyone has better screenshots or even a video of this mod, feel free to upload them into the mod or pm me a URL and I will add them!

To do list:

- revamping some interiors
- more minor quests
- Voice Acting!
- add favour, allowing you to potentially befriend NPCs from the mod
- further bug elimination


Thanks for Rating!
 
(A lot of the screenshots are from older versions of the mod, or even Oldrim)

Installation:

Either use the NMM, or for manual installation copy the contents of the zip file into your Skyrim Data folder and click replace files for anything that pops out. If you already have an older version, make sure to de-activate it prior to updating it. Also make sure that the mod is activated before launching the game!

P.S. Valeria is the one who sells you the player house, it consists of a single furnished room and costs 2500 gold.